It's not an act - I really do have cerebral palsy, says young star of Breaking Bad... but unlike his character, R.J. Mitte can cope without crutches and his disability hasn't put off a growing army of female fans

Determined: Just like his Breaking Bad character, R.J. Mitte has cerebral palsy - but that has not stopped him

The near-hysterical screams that met actor R.J. Mitte on the red carpet at the Golden Globes this year were befitting of a bona fide teenage heart-throb.

The strikingly handsome 20-year-old now takes such adulation in his stride, having been a fixture for the past five years in the critically acclaimed US TV drama series Breaking Bad – the nail-biting conclusion of which will be screened next month.

His nuanced and at times heartbreaking portrayal of a young disabled man, Walt Junior, struggling to cope with his father’s terminal cancer and his own physical problems, has won him unanimous praise.

However, what marks out R.J. – real name, Roy Frank – is that he has the same disability as his character on screen: cerebral palsy (CP).

The neurological condition normally occurs before or during birth for a number of reasons – usually lack of blood supply and therefore oxygen – meaning parts of the brain die or do not develop.

The damage leads to, among other things, problems with muscle development, control and movement.

In Breaking Bad, Walt Jnr relies on crutches. But, while R.J. spent his childhood in leg braces – CP causes involuntary muscle contractions that can lead to difficulty in straightening the limbs – his love of sport and exercise means that he now walks unaided.

A third of those with CP have difficulty with speech, but in a similar way, Walt Jnr’s problems are slightly worse than R.J.’s.

The show’s creator, Vince Gilligan, loosely based the character on a college friend who suffered a more severe form of CP, but had initially been auditioning able-bodied actors. After five auditions, R.J. landed the part.

‘It took a little bit of convincing, as at first Vince thought I was actually too able-bodied,’ R.J. says, explaining how he ‘regressed’ to his early days with CP by using crutches again and staying up late so grogginess would thicken his voice.

‘Playing Walt Jnr has been an eye-opener to what I’ve managed to become. Until I got the role, I never thought what I went through was something odd.’

Now he does ‘tons of yoga’ to fight leg stiffness and takes a prescription drug to relax his muscles. The approach is working.

‘If I stopped doing what I’m doing, it would get worse,’ says R.J. ‘I can’t tell you the last time I’ve gone to a doctor for my CP. I have it under control for the most part.’

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At first there was nothing to suggest R.J., who was adopted a few weeks after his birth, had problems. But by the time he turned three, he had begun showing signs of impairment.

‘I had really bad elasticity in my legs,’ says R.J., who grew up in Louisiana. When he began to walk, he would tip-toe, something commonly seen in CP children due to tightness in the tendons.

‘He also had very rigid fingers,’ his mother Dyna remembers. ‘I had him tested [for brain impairment] but he scored really high on all of the tests. Most CP kids are very intelligent – it’s a misconception that they aren’t.’

When he took on the role as fellow cerebral palsy sufferer Walt Jr, son of the main character Walter White, R.J. had to learn how to walk on crutches and slur his voice as his own condition is less severe than Walt Jr

Eventually they were given a diagnosis, but faced a further challenge. Under the terms of R.J.’s adoption the identity of his mother was confidential.

‘We had to go through a lot of red tape to give us the information the doctors needed,’ says Dyna. ‘We eventually found out R.J.’s mother was in labour a long time and finally had to have an emergency caesarean.’

When he was delivered, R.J. wasn’t breathing and had to be resuscitated. The event left permanent brain damage.

Once his condition was diagnosed, doctors immediately tried to straighten his feet so that he no longer needed to walk on his toes.

‘They would bend them into place and put casts on,’ he says. ‘After a week or two, they would cut off the casts, bend my feet more, and then cast them again. It was very painful and this went on for six months.’

Dyna also sent her son to speech therapists and tried every exercise that might improve his hand-eye co-ordination, which can sometimes be affected. ‘She had me folding 30 or 40 towels and then she’d knock them over and I would fold them again,’ R.J says. He didn’t resent the drill – ‘I wouldn’t be same person if I didn’t have someone pushing me.’

In spite of all this, R.J. insists: ‘I never thought of myself as being different. I just thought that putting on braces was one more thing that I had to do to get ready for the day.’

Dyna was adamant that he attend mainstream school and dedicated herself to helping him. ‘When we found out he had cerebral palsy, I sat down and cried,’ she recalls.

Family support: The 20 year old actor and his mum Dyna who brought him up as a single mother

‘I was a single mother, as my husband
and I separated after we adopted R.J. I thought, “How am I going to do
this?” I called my aunt, who’s in the medical profession, and she said,
“Cry yourself silly today, then get up tomorrow and start doing
research. Find everything that’s out there. Raise him as normal as
possible. And never let him believe that he can’t achieve what he
wants.” So that’s what I did.’

Attending
a mainstream school was a mixed blessing. ‘Most kids rallied around
him,’ says Dyna. ‘But there were times when he’d come home and cry.’

A
scene in the first series of Breaking Bad involves Walt Snr, played by
Emmy award-winning actor Bryan Cranston, confronting older teenagers who
are taunting his son. It was a scenario that rang true for R.J.

‘I was a prime target for bullies,’ he admits. Indeed, some children physically assaulted him, resulting in him suffering a broken hand.

Every few years, a doctor would suggest the possibility of surgery – something about a third of children with CP undergo. There are operations to release tendons in the legs and arms, freeing movement, and procedures to realign hips and straighten the spine.

Dr Chaniyil Ramesh, a consultant paediatrician at Watford General Hospital who specialises in CP, explains: ‘Surgery improves quality of life in about half of patients. The condition can get worse again over time. Botox injections, which relax the muscles, have to be repeated every three months. The one treatment we know works incredibly well is regular exercise. This improves symptoms in all cases.’

1,800 NEW CASES A YEAR

Cases of CP are on the rise, which is thought to be linked to the increase in multiple pregnancies as a result of fertility treatment.

A twin birth increases the risk of CP tenfold, as one foetus can starve the other of oxygen. The charity Scope says that about 1,800 children in the UK are diagnosed every year.

Symptoms vary: some people have problems walking while others are profoundly disabled and require lifelong care. Speech is affected in a third of cases, but this has no bearing on intellectual development.

In some cases, those with the condition suffer epileptic seizures and, rarely, learning disabilities.

In R.J.’s case, doctors suggested cutting
his Achilles tendon but instead he threw himself into sport, especially
football.

‘I was goalie for a bit then played centre-forward. I had no
trouble running. When I was 14 I just said to my doctors, “I don’t need
these leg braces any more.” ’

That year, Dyna moved the family to Los Angeles as her daughter, Lacianne, had received a film offer. To meet friends, R.J. started looking for acting jobs and became an extra on the hit Disney show Hannah Montana, where he played one of Miley Cyrus’s classmates.

Talent manager Addison K. Witt, who himself has a form of CP, and agent Debra Manners, encouraged R.J. to take acting classes.

Dyna recalls: ‘I pulled the agent aside and said, “I’m not sure this is for him – to go to audition after audition and get turned down.” But she said, “I love him. I’m not afraid to say he has cerebral palsy. I think you need to let him try.” ’

Shortly afterwards, R.J. landed the part in Breaking Bad.

According to Gilligan, R.J. is ‘like cat-nip’ to the female cast members and crew.

He also has legions of female fans among the show’s millions of viewers. ‘I’ve never had any trouble getting girls, which is not to say I haven’t had girl trouble,’ laughs R.J., who is currently single after ending a two-year relationship.

His growing fame has now spurred him to activism and he’s become a spokesman for US charity United Cerebral Palsy, campaigning for the inclusion of disabled actors, and the portrayal of disability in drama.

Able-bodied actors are often praised for such roles (Daniel Day-Lewis played Irish artist Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Eddie Redmayne will soon star as physicist Stephen Hawking, who has motor neurone disease) yet disabled Hollywood stars are few and far between. R.J. is all too aware of his position in a show watched regularly by three million people.

‘So many people are disabled but we’re all capable of doing something in our own way,’ he says. ‘I can’t tell you how many times a doctor said to me, “You’re not going to be able to do this.” It only made me determined to say that I would do it. My disability made me who I am today.

‘Hollywood shouldn’t be afraid of actors like me. Diversity can only make the stories better.’